Open Source: Programming at It's Best

If you have not gathered it from my other posts, I love Open Source. Not just because I'm too frugal (I like that word better than cheap) to pay a bunch of money for programs, but because it is often better, or at least as good as the for pay versions. Even though I love open source programs, I have come to realize that many do not know what it is. In several conversations with techs and programmers, it has become quite clear to me over the years that many people in the high tech industry to not know what this standard is. Today I will break down what open source is, how it is beneficial to users, and why programmers should program open source tools. At the end I will list some of the most popular open source products and their commercial equivalents.

What is Open Source?

The simplest way to define open source is to say that it is a license put on a program where the source is open to everyone. I've heard it said that there are two types of free. There is the free in that you can use it for free. In programming, this is often called "freeware". Then there is free as in freedom. This is open source. You are not just free to use it, you are free to change it. You can take the program, and the source code for it, change it, repackage it and let others use it. Read the complete definition here.

Why Should I Use Open Source?

It's Free. You don't have to pay for it, ever. Nothing, not a dime. No restrictions on when and where you can use it without paying.

There are a World of Programmers. You are not relying on the programmers working for the company who writes the software to come out with bug fixes and updates. Anyone can do it. You can then download them and run the patches to get your version to do the same. Of course, you want to make sure it is coming from a trusted source, but many of these fixes are sent to the package maintainer (a fancy term for the main contact who is in charge of the program) and included in the next version. This means that there might be thousands of people working on these programs to get them ready for you to use, instead of the few, or maybe dozens, that are paid to work on them when you buy commercial versions.

They Work as Well as the Commercial Version, if Not Better. This blanket statement is often true, but not always. Sometimes the commercial version is better, but often the open source one is. They might have different parts of them that work better than the commercial versions, but open source competes with the commercial versions very well. They just don't have a big marketing division to get you to buy them.

You Can Open the Commercial Versions Documents. Just because a document was created in a commercial program does not mean that you need that program to open the documents. Most of the open source versions allow you to open and save in the commercial programs formats. There are exceptions to this rule, so be sure to check out the program to see if it will do what you need.

Will Open Source Work for My Business?

Does your business like to save money? Does your tech support know how to support the tools, or are they willing to learn? Is your staff willing and able to learn the new software? If you can answer yes to these questions, then it will work for you. The tools do not work exactly the same, and some tools are not as good as commercial versions, but if you can find the tools you need in open source, you can save some money. Like with any change, you will need to train your staff. Don't just install it and tell them to use it. Teach them how and you will get a better response and it will work better for them and you. If you don't train them, then they will want to go back to what they already know.

Why Should I Program In Open Source?

Get Others to Code With You. In The Cathedral and the Bazaar Eric Raymond describes open source as a bazaar where programmers with differing agenda are all working on the same thing from different points of view. If you are working on a program and want others to help, open source is a good way to achieve this goal.

Build Loyalty. As a business, you can gain a lot of loyalty quickly by building in open source. Your developers will have a sense of ownership because they are working to develop it in their way, instead of the companies way.

It Is Less Expensive. As a business you only have to pay your core developers. Other developers will come on board with their own agenda and make your product better. You don't have to pay them.

Good Way To Learn. It is a good way for a newbie programmer to learn more about the trade. You can read the code others have written and make minor changes. If you are working on a good project, they will have a list of things that need to be done. You can pick one that is at or just above your skill level and go to work on it. In this way, you are working on a large project that you might not normally get to work on, but you are keeping it at a level that you can do on your own.

Sense of Community. Since you are working with a large group of programmers, there is a sense of community in working with all the programmers and learning from each other.

Can I sell open source? Yes. You can sell and make money from open source programs. But so can anyone else. If you write a program and license it open source, you are allowing anyone to look at your code, change it, and sell it, if they like. It is hard to make a business work with an open source business model, but several have.

Open Source List

Commercial Program - Open Source Competitor
Microsoft Windows - Linux. There are many versions of Linux. Check out Distro Watch as they will give you lots of information about the various versions right as they come out. You can even run Windows programs under the WINE emulator.
Microsoft Office - Open Office. Open Office will open all MS Office documents and save in their formats.
Internet Explorer - FireFox. Many of us use Firefox instead of IE, but not everyone knows that it is open source.
Internet Information Server - Apache Web Server. Apache is a great web server. It has a huge market share and does a great job.
Adobe Photshop - The GIMP. The first non-Microsoft commercial product on the list. The GIMP is great, but there are some things about Photoshop that make it a little better, but unless you are using it nearly every day, it may not be worth the $650 retail price tag. Some places sell it for $500 or less, but it is very expensive anyway.
Quicken - GNUCash. ok. This one is no competition. Quicken is hands down the best here. It is not really expensive and has way better tools. I think that people are afraid of working on financial stuff without the backing that intuit has. There are too many things you could screw up for people. There are no good alternatives in the open source world.
Audio Editing - Audacity. I don't actually know a commercial version that competes with Audacity. Of course, I'm not an audio expert either, but if you do a little audio work, Audacity is the way to go.
Many other products exist, but these are the ones I use regularly. I have two computers, and one has no commercial software on it. The other I'm making dual boot, because there are times when I need to test in Windows. I will then have some commercial software on one boot partition (the software that comes with Windows). For a more complete list of Open Source programs, check out Wikipedia's list